BHS girls tennis beats Victor Valley, finishes perfect in DSL

Friday

Oct 25, 2013 at 1:30 PM

RIDGECREST — Before the season, the Burroughs girls tennis team wasn't expected to win the Desert Sky League championship — much less take the title without a defeat. Thursday at BHS courts, the Div. 5, No. 6-ranked Burros beat Victor Valley 13-5 to finish DSL play as undefeated league champions.

By Anthony GentileSPORTS EDITORagentile@ridgecrestca.com

RIDGECREST — Before the season, the Burroughs girls tennis team wasn't expected to win the Desert Sky League championship — much less take the title without a defeat. Thursday at BHS courts, the Div. 5, No. 6-ranked Burros beat Victor Valley 13-5 to finish DSL play as undefeated league champions."It has been quite a season," Burros head coach Kenold Prince said. "Today it comes to reality — we did win the league and go undefeated. It didn't hit me until after the game was over."Burroughs (15-0, 12-0 DSL) won 10 of the 12 sets in the first two rounds to clinch the win over Victor Valley before third-round play begun. The Burros last ran the table in the DSL three seasons ago."The girls deserve a lot of credit — they stayed composed throughout the season," Prince said.No. 1 singles player Celsea McGrew swept her sets 6-0, 6-0, 6-0. The senior hasn't dropped a set this season, and her leadership has been as valuable as her consistent results."The way she has gone through the season has been amazing," Prince said. "She is poised, she leads the team and she encourages players to do better."No. 2 singles player Myisha Edwards blanked each of her three opponents 6-0. Edwards has only lost one game in her last two matches. "In the last three matches, she has really been focusing," Prince said. "She's focused and getting off the court quickly."An absence moved typical doubles player Hayley Weik into the No. 3 doubles spot, and she took advantage of the opportunity. Weik won two sets against the Jackrabbits with scores of 6-0 and 6-2.In doubles, the No. 1 team of Lara Luu and Camynn McGrew swept its sets with scores of 6-0, 7-5 and 6-0. The Burros' top doubles pairing lost only one set in during DSL play.The No. 2 doubles team of Emma Heflin and Daytona Burks won its first two sets 6-1, 6-1 before losing in the final round 4-6. The No. 3 doubles team of Miriam Kolar and Katie Koch came close to victory against Victor Valley, dropping each of its sets 5-7.Burroughs clinched the win early, which allowed some junior varsity players to take the court. Jaylynn Francis lost 0-6 in the No. 3 doubles spot, and the team of Tori Moran and Emma Mower fell 4-6 in the No. 3 doubles spot.Burroughs continues to earn accolades as its surprising 2013 season comes to a close. The league champion Burros are one win away from completing an undefeated regular season."I knew we were going to improve somewhere down the line and play better, which we did," Prince said. "But I would never think we could go undefeated in league."They didn't make me believe until halfway through the season — halfway through the season I knew we could be in for something good here. I kept encouraging them to work harder and trying to get them to improve."Prince credits the Burros' success this season to the development of the team's freshmen players. Burroughs' head coach also said the work put in by assistants Ruth O'Neil and Tim Higgins throughout the year helped the team improve.Burroughs finishes the regular season Tuesday at Desert. Next Thursday, the Burros will take two singles players and two doubles teams to the DSL finals at Granite Hills.